Threnody of the graveyard
by Animapower
Summary: On that night Remnant change, in good or in bad will be determined by the actions of the future. The world hold its breath as guardians and monsters come from elsewhere dance under the moon, indistinguishable from each others. We may wish for the best but we must be ready, for undying is the threnody of the graveyard shift.
1. Are we ready?

The sound is like the very world itself is roaring in agony, for half a second every last person in Beacon feel their ears bleed as the sky turn black then gold, brown, yellow, blue and red before purple lord over the world for an instant and the heaven turn back to its nocturnal hues. What follows is the crash of metal against stone as every team looking through the windows can see something falling to the ground.

But for team RWBY and the others still outside it is much, much worse because what they can see is awfully tall humanoid animals with glowing eyes , a man in purple with a far too big grin and another with a clown mask on the side of his head grasping him. Yet what is more terrifying is the colossal aura of wrongness surrounding them.

The purple man rolls his head and his grin widen further. "Well, it seems I've become all the more real. What do you say Mike? Puppet? Do you think it's the afterlife? If it's hell I'm going to be so disappointed. You would think I at least deserve a royal welcoming." His tone is mocking, like speaking to a child.

His opponent's eyes narrow in what is clearly a mixture of disgust and rage. **"You deserve nothing else than rotting away for eternity!"** He roars in an echoing voice, hate lacing every word, as he headbutt him.

The purple man takes a step back, chuckling. "Like our rabbit friend tried? Oh, we all know how it ended, hmm? You should have heard him when we pursued you guys: 'Stop, please stop, don't hurt them, I don't want to do it'. It was great!"

To every spectator's surprise the golden rabbit start running, letting out a screech everybody's hair stand on end. "I'll m-m-make y-you p-p-p-pay!" Images of the other animals, covered in tar like stains with cables jutting out, start popping up at random, jumping on the man.

The man sidesteps the clown guy's punch and embed him in the ground, not batting an eyelash as the images pass through him. "Did you really think I would let such a thing affect me? When we've been working together for so long? You wound me, really, Springtrap." The last syllable is pronounced like it is the greatest joke ever.

The golden rabbit is suddenly over the man, roaring in fury. "I-I-I am Sp-p-pring B-B-B-Bonnie!"

 **"Spring! Don't!"** The clown man seems panicked as he vainly tries to get out of the ground.

The punch is strong enough for the shock wave to mess with the hair of the now crowd of spectators. The man catches it with seemingly no effort at all.

"Now, now, you're going to scare the kids. We wouldn't want that, do we? Springtrap?" As he says that the man rip the rabbit's arm out, tearing cables and metal as if it was nothing, before he stab it through the rabbit's neck.

"Spring!"

A sobbing voice makes itself heard. "I don't want to die again Foxy!" As one, everyone turn in the direction of the voice, the spectators' eyes widening as their eyes fall on a transparent child, crying in the arms of a decidedly terrifying fox.

"Don't cry matey, Ah be feedin' the sharks before that landlubber put a finger on ye all."

The purple man holds his hand together next to his head in a cooing gesture. "If it's not cute! But you should not make promises you can't hold captain. We both know you can't do anything. And anyway, it's not fun when they're already broken. I'd much prefer one of our dear spectators." He turns toward the crowd. "Hmm, I really like little red riding hood." Ruby lets a frightened cry and hide behind Yang as he point to her. "She looks so innocent, imagine Mike: the life slowly fading away from her eyes-"

 **"Shut up!"**

Yang takes a step forward, Ember Celica raised. "If you think I'll let you touch my sister..."

"Hush, child, the adults are talking. Where was I? Ah, Yes. Blood streaming down her skin, her-"

 **"Shut up!"**

"-Pained cries as she would call for help,-" The guy held himself in a hug, a shiver clearly shaking his body as his smile widen even further.

 **"Shut! Up!"**

"But nobody would come to save her." He point towards the ghosts. "Like the puppet failed to save them."

The floor around Mike, since such seem to be his name, crack before exploding outward as he extirpate himself from his rocky prison. **"We'll kill you! We'll make sure you never come back this time! Murderer!"**

The purple man starts laughing. "That's the spirit! But I've already told you, I have a name and it's-" "You have lost any right to have one!"

"Goodness, you are so impatient, now why don't we make a game out of it? If you can make it to six a.m., in half an hour, without me killing anyone, you win."

 **"You will be dead by that time!"**

"Then let the game begin."

What happen next will go down in history as the first Mike Schmidt incident: 'The monster battle of Beacon'.

 **"Toys! Put the children in security"** Is all Mike manage to say before the purple man disappears to reappear in front of him, a punch flying toward his stomach.

The crowd can only watch in bafflement as three of the animals and a mess of metal start pushing them toward the building.

"Stop! We have to help him!" Ruby exclaim

To her surprise the bear pushing her is the one to answer. "With all due respect miss, you'd just get killed. Plus Mike and Marion are strong and they've got the others."

"But!"

"Please, no but. My siblings and I have to put you in safety before we can try to gain them time." He shoves a red... Thing in her hand. "If you need to ask a question he's your best chance to get an answer."

* * *

Meanwhile the fight is not going in Mike's favor, the purple man had already been monstrously strong as a ghost, yet it is nothing compared to his current state. In the few minutes since the beginning of the battle he has already gotten a broken rib and a small concussion, he's pretty much defending himself while trying to not get knocked out. Alone he will lose. Good thing he's not.

He barely dodges an uppercut destined to his chest and catch it under his arm.

 **"Foxy!"**

The pirate is already next to them, faster than ever, his hook glowing under the moon as it sinks toward the murderer's nape. It's not supposed to work and it doesn't, in a flash Mike is thrown in the fox, sharp metal ribs dig into his shoulder as they soar toward a pillar.

 **"Bonnie!"**

The rabbit understand in a second, he jumps, place his feet on the night guard's and is sent toward the purple man. A second before hitting him, he contorts in mid air, dig his hands in the ground and his legs crash against the man's guard, the earth shatter in a small crater but the guy's doesn't look bothered. It's not a problem, because without a word Freddy jump from behind Bonnie and send his two fists in the strongest hammer strike he can muster, the earth explodes outward as the man is suddenly in the center of a fifty feet wide crater, still standing, not looking the worse for wear.

 **"Chica!"**

The chicken jump from the pillar she's climbed a few second earlier and hit the murderer with her beak, the strength of her coiling endoskeleton backed by gravity pulling down almost five hundred pounds from a height of thirty feet. The shock is enough to make the ground shake as the crater grows to be sixty feet wide and seven feet deep.

"Is that all? Because I'm a little disappointed."

 **"We just needed to distract you. Look to your left."**

Because to the murderer's left there is Fredbear, shadow oozing from his eyes and mouth before it agglutinate in twisted versions of the animatronics. The golden bear raises his head toward him.

"It is time your dreams turn to nightmares."

"Sorry big guy, I've stopped dreaming years ago."

The nightmares don't make any strategy, they can't do that, so instead they do what they know how, they rush the man in a barrage of fangs and claws. He idly takes a step back, catch Nightmare's hand and flip the hulking bear over his shoulder, letting the inertia give it speed as he send it back toward its brethren. In a flash he's behind them and he wrenches Nightmarionne from under Nightmare Mangle, using it as a whip to pierce Nightmare Chica's eye before crushing its head under his heel, shattering the ground under its mask.

 **"Spring!"**

From the still damaged animatronic hallucinations start coming to life, mixing with the nightmares to form a sea of apparent death, fake indistinguishable from the real ones.

The murderer only laughs. "Good idea, Mike. Apart from a small detail: I can see through it!"

The toys choose this moment to get back. "The cavalry's here!"

Mike let a smile take place on his face. **"Perfect. Blue! Hen!"**

In perfect synchronization, Toy Bonnie et Toy Chica sprint to the left and right of the night guard, catch his hands and send him sailing toward the sky. They bend forward and half a second later toy Freddy use their shoulders to jump toward Mike, Mangle on his back.

"Cub! Mangle!"

When they get to him, Toy Freddy punches his feet, sending him headfirst toward the ground as Mangle jump to Mike, reassembling herself around his arm, a metal rib repurposed into a deadly blade in the prolongation of his arm as he punches. When they get to the murderer, it's akin to a meteor trying to skewer him.

He catches it effortlessly.

"Well, that's a good knife you're offering me. You really know how to make me happy." He proceeds to rip the blade away from its support before he slam Mike into the ground, blood trickling from the guard's mouth, and kick Mangle's head clean off.

He turns to the horrified animatronics. "Now, I'd love to keep playing with you, but I have less than ten minutes if I want to win. And while I see a volunteer coming toward us, I don't think you'll just let me kill her. So no hard feeling okay?"

In a second he's behind Fredbear, his blade planted solidly in his metallic skull. Without letting the golden bear time to fall, he throws him toward Spring Bonnie, shattering their endoskeletons. He dodges Freddy's fist that go sinking into the ground, stone flying everywhere, before he take his head between is hands and twist.

"Now, now. Why don't you all take a nap?"

It takes less than a second for Foxy to be next to him, hook raising toward his jaw, it takes less time yet for the fox to fall legless on the gravel. The three toys are right behind him, Toy Freddy catches Toy Bonnie's hands to send his feet flying in a wide arc while Toy Chica roll over him, her momentum lending strength to her blow. It's a marvel of teamwork and with Bonnie and Chica blocking the only opening it is inescapable.

* * *

From the windows the fight seems surreal, it's a view beyond comprehension, a display of power like the students have never seen before. It is awing, it is breathtaking, it is terrifying.

Ruby can hear someone panicking in the back. She's really close to join them. The way that man had looked at her, what he said. It's the kind of things she has only heard of in horror stories. Her grip tightens on the thing the bear gave her as she feel the ground shaking under her.

Yang is swearing profusely next to her, Weiss seems even paler than usual and Blake looks like she's ready to unsheathe at any time.

She yelps when the red thing starts ringing, letting it fall. When it hit the ground a part breaks, bound by a swirly thread.

 _"Hello, hello? Uh, can somebody get me off the floor? Um, please? Miss in red? Anybody?"_

She sends a pleading look to Yang who's staring at the thing. Her sister cautiously approaches it before taking it from the tip of her fingers.

 _"Ah, uh. Thank you. Um, I know it's a little freaky, but there's no, uh, nothing to fear. Um, where's the girl Cub gave me to?"_

"Cub?"

 _"Ah, yeah. Mike's not all that great with nicknames. So, uh, do you have any questions?"_

For once, Weiss let the heiress mask fall. "Questions?! Where do we even begin?"

 _"Uh, yes it was maybe a little stupid. Um, how many people are there? Because I can only see, uh, the people touching me. You could, maybe, um, put a finger on the dial, just so I can know who's there. Please? Because I can't, uh, see otherwise."_

He does realize he's repeating himself, right? But everybody puts a finger on the thing anyway.

 _"That's a, uh, lot of people. Um, Mike has told me I should introduce myself before, uh, giving life preserving information. So, um, I'm the Phone Guy, but my friends call me Scott. So, what do you want to know?"_

"Grimm!" Jaune yell and Ruby turn her attention back to the fight and oh my god there really are grimm joining the fight.

 _"Uh, excuse me, but what's happening?"_

"There is grimm in the school!" Yang answer

 _"What does it, um, look like?"_

"I have never seen grimm like those before, they look like the beast who came with you, but more demoniac." Weiss reply shortly, she looks irritated.

 _"Oh, that's the nightmares! They're not, um, dangerous. Not really, Gold is the one who makes them, uh, maybe I should tell you, um, Spring makes phantoms too, so don't freak out."_

"We've seen."

 _"Oh! Well, good, I guess. What's Mike doing?"_

Ruby doesn't really know how to explain it, because Mike is falling like a meteor toward the man. She feels her mouth hang when the ground shake again and the purple man holds his opponent like it is nothing.

 _"Wow, uh, that bad? Is his right eye completely black?"_

"N-no." His eyes are blue and grey.

 _"Then, uh, that mean he's not taken the big guns out yet."_

The big guns? Beacon's courtyard is in ruin and they've not gone all out?!

She see the five last animals make a really impressive combination that sends cracks running along the ground. She blinks and the colorful rabbit is on the ground, impaled with the bear's leg, the bear is crawling on the ground and the last childish animal has a blade in its nape. Monster! That man is a monster!

* * *

"Well, look at that. Now there's just you two."

The murderer jumps to Bonnie and knee him in the chest, wrecking the bot's endoskeleton to pieces.

"Just one."

In a second he punches through Chica's head.

"And now for our volunteer." he sings.

Oh, the woman tries to fight back, but let's be frank: compared to the Fazbear crew, flying rocks and raining ice is like a lion compared to a tiger, the lion might be strong but the tiger is just that much mightier. He idly backhands a stone flying toward his head, sidestep an icicle and he's behind her, holding his blade against her neck as he strangles her.

His grin widens a little. "Now, you're a little older than I'd like, but you know what they say miss, it's the inside that matter. I win Mike!"

He brings his hand back.

 **"Balloon!"**

There is no blood because suddenly the blade is not in his hand anymore.

"Hi!" It's at Balloon Boy's feet. He's smiling next to a battered but smug looking Mike.

The purple man throws his would be victim away, no fun in killing somebody if it's not bloody. "Ooh, good job Mike, really. But we've still got five minutes."

 **"Then come and get us."** Mike's right eye, the fake one, has turned black, a white dot glowing in the middle. He's got a last ace in the hole, he's not sure it will work, but it's how he did it with Marion. **"The toreador seeks his glory, but is he ready for Freddy?"** As soon as he stops speaking, the body of the bear start glowing, retracting to a mask that fly toward his head. Once it comes in contact with his face, he can feel his body shifting: metal bear ears jut from his head, brown leather cover his arms and legs and he can feel the top hat and bow tie. He reels back when he feels the singer's mind, it's so different from Marion's.

"Now that's not something you see every day. I knew there was a reason I like you."

The two crashes into each other, the strength of the impact making the last pillars fall and the windows of the building shatter, to the horror of the spectators.

Like that Mike is stronger than either he or Freddy were. He's strong enough to destroy a big house in one hit. The purple man is still stronger and faster. Before his Haymaker can hit his opponent, he's got a knee in his stomach and Freddy's mask is snatched from his face. The bear and him revert to their previous form in less than a second and he's on the ground again, the murderer sitting on his back.

"Really impressive, Mike. I was almost afraid for a second. I think you deserve a reward. But what?" The purple man scratches his appropriately purple stubble. "I know! I'm going to give you a hand to go with your eye and your foot. Am I not generous?"

Mike's eyes widen in horror as he thrashes around. "No! Don't you dare!"

"Not the right though, it would be overloaded. I think you're ambidextrous. Right?"

* * *

 _"Well that's, um, that's not good."_

From his place next to the shattered window, Jaune can only agree with the Phone Guy. Now that they can hear what the guys are saying it's clear the man in purple is pretty much evil and he's the one doing the butt kicking even though the clown man is more powerful than anybody else he's ever seen.

He haphazard a look at his team, Ren's calm, nothing new, Nora is calm too, which is not good because the last time she's been like that was... Well, he's never really seen her like that. But what's really driving the gravity of the situation home is the fact Pyrrha look as lost as him and there's a bunch of ghosts cowering in a corner of the classroom, and how weird is that?

But for all the fight is freaking him out he can't say he's not in awe at the sheer magnitude of what's happening. It's a battle he knows will go down in history because it's the stuff of legends. And he's at the front row.

And when he looks back through the window, he thinks he might throw up because the purple man is crushing the other's forearm in a bloody mess and with a disgusting sound he rip the hand off. The clown man, Mike he thinks the Phone Guy said, roar in pain and he hear somebody throwing up behind him. Nobody say anything and he understands because his mouth is going dry too.

The purple man gets up. "Now you're just exaggerating. Jeremy didn't even cry when his leg was crushed." His voice echoes in the silent school and Jaune really want him to stop talking because a missing hand is definitively not the kind of thing you can laugh about.

 **"What... Did you... Just say?"**

"Oh, I said Jeremy didn't cry. You know? The guy you shared a room with in the asylum?"

Apparently it's the wrong thing to say because Mike tackles him to the ground and start stabbing him repeatedly with the bones jutting out of his stump and it's just sick, there's blood everywhere and the evil guy is just laughing.

This time Jaune really throw up and when he raises his head, it's to see Mike getting punched away as his opponent gets up, still grinning.

"Well, six a.m.! Congrats, you win. And because I've really had fun and I always honor my promises you get a prize. I won't attack anybody for three months and once it's time you're the first person I'm going to find. No need to thank me."

 **"What makes you think... What makes you think we'll let you go?"**

The man laughs. "You're not really in condition to stop me. Now you get stronger and I'll see you in three months. Bye!"

And just like that, he disappears in a purple flash headed toward the rising sun.

Nobody dares to move, what they've just seen is too overwhelming. Jaune startle when the ghost kids, still weird as all grimm, pass through him and run to the man.

* * *

He's pretty fucked up, the animatronics are in a mess he's gonna need hours to repair and Purple Guy is still alive. But Mike can't really feel sad. Nobody is dead and he's got three months to prepare himself. But first he needs to stop the bleeding so he put his remaining hand on the mask at the side of his head and gently tug on it. He shudders as the Puppet turn back to its original form, it's been so long since the last time they separated.

 _"I'm sorry."_

"Don't be. It's not your fault. Guess I'll need a new arm now. You think you can bandage it before the children get here?"

The puppet takes his uniform's jacket and tear it into cloth strips.

 _"If I hadn't brought you in all of this you would not have been hurt."_ It says while covering the stump.

"Now that's bullshit and you know it. If you had let me out of it, I'd be stuck in a suit with my eyes popping out or back in the asylum after beating up an asshole."

 _"Please, watch your mouth, there are children."_

"See, now that's the Marion I know. Stop beating yourself up for things you can't do anything about. At least the children seem to be free now."

 _"I suppose you are right. But still, I am sorry."_

"Heh, better than nothing I guess."

The ghostly children crash into them, sending them tumbling to the ground.

"Mister Puppet! Mister Night Guard!"

"Hey, it's okay kids, we're good. Happy to see you guys out of the crew." Ouch, maybe he should not have said that because now there's tears welling up their eyes.

"The robots! Will they be okay?"

"It's good, we'll repair them. Marion, please, tell them." Okay, maybe he's panicking a little, but the amusement he can feel from the Marionette is totally vexing.

 _"You don't have to worry children, their souls are still there. Now I believe there is a paradise waiting for you."_

"Do we really have to go?"

"What, you're worried for us? Don't worry kids we'll be good."

"But I don't want to say goodbye!"

 _"Then do not say it child. Let's say 'see you later'."_

"Say, mister Puppet? Do you think you could sing for us one last time?"

 _"With pleasure dear. What song would you like to hear?"_

"The one from when we met."

"Now that's one I like too. Good choice kid."

Marion takes the children in a hug and start to sing.

* * *

 _Don't you cry dear children._

 _Don't you cry dear children._

 _Those old bodies just won't do._

 _Dust yourselves off, and hop in there._

 _'Cause I've got a gift for you._

When the world stop spinning Glynda can see Pyrrha Nikos is trying to see if she's good, Jaune Arc panics behind her as Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie help her to get up. What just happened is a terrible thing, a man of such power he can simply brush her semblance and Dust manipulation before shattering her aura simply by holding her is already terrifying. But for him to be so clearly inclined toward plain evil is an omen of tragedy to come. The only person she knows who would be able to rival him is Ozpin and he's been summoned by the council to talk about the upcoming Vytal festival.

Yet there is somebody who managed to stop him from going on a rampage. She turns her attention toward the other fighter. He's in such a shape she can hardly believe he's not dead: he's swaying on his legs, an arm replaced by a mess barely hidden under a dripping red bandage and she can hardly see a place not covered in blood.

 _Who brought the tears to these kids?_

 _Why were their souls evicted?_

 _Isn't that better, you're stronger._

 _See you're all heroes now._

 _Walk around and see how they fit!_

 _Make this puppet proud._

And there is the matter of these robots he showed up with, they are clearly artificial and broken, yet she can distinctly feel aura coming from them. But stranger yet is the floating puppet next to him, singing to a group of ghostly children. She can feel a shudder running down her spine at the sheer emotion and power in the song. Uneasiness rising as she hears the next lines.

 _Who brought the tears to these kids?_

 _Why were their souls evicted?_

 _When I find the guy, we will take him out._

* * *

 _Now who was it who broke you?_

 _Show me where it goes 'Oww'._

 _Let me see if I can find him because he's in trouble now._

 _Who brought the tears to these kids?_

 _Why were their souls evicted?_

To Yang the situation is just overbearing, she's strong and she knows it. But she understands clearly that without that Mike person the man in purple would have gone after her sister and there's nothing she could have done. She's always believed she could take on anything. But now, as she takes in the absolute destruction surrounding her, she's cruelly reminded of how outclassed she is compared to the true monsters out there.

Beacon's majestic courtyard is little more than a field of ruins in a crater full of broken robots and blood. Team JNPR is helping Goodwitch back to her feet from where she's been thrown like she was not one of the few people Yang has never been able to imagine beaten. Yet the one who did all that had looked as if it was nothing, toying with a group who could probably destroy the school itself from what she's seen.

 _When I find the guy, we will take him out._

 _Who brought the tears to these kids?_

 _Why were their souls evicted?_

 _When I find the guy, we will take him out_

 _Who brought the tears to these kids?_

 _Why were their souls evicted?_

The song gives her the creeps, the tone is almost loving but the lyrics are just terrifying. Like the singing puppet is just creepy yet hugs the ghosts in a loving embrace reminding her of a parent's. It takes her a second to understand how jarring the situation is for _ghosts_ to seem normal in comparison.

She risks a look at their savior and gulp. He's smiling. It's not right, his friends are in pieces, he looks like he can keel over at any moment and he just lost his arm in what must be the messiest way she can think of. He should _not_ be smiling. She can't imagine how she'd feel if the same thing happened to her, but she knows she would _not_ be smiling.

 _When I find the guy, we will take him out._

* * *

 _What shall we do with him, children?_

 _What should his punishment be?_

When Peter reaches the school, he's horrified. He knew something was happening when he heard explosions as he was giving a suplex to this Creep he intended to bring at his next lecture. But by his cabbage smelling grandfather's beard is what he finds much worse than anything he thought. It's like the apocalypse has decided to come early to Beacon. The white pillars have fallen to the ground, the windows are shattered and he can see blood trails and metal pieces everywhere. As he take a step forward, he feels something beneath his foot, as he looks down, he find a bloody hand, the forearm crushed to a pulp of blood and bones. He feels dread creeping in the back of his mind as he rush toward the center of the crater. If anything has happened to his students while he was away, he will never forgive himself.

"Professor!" He turns his gaze toward the voice.

"Goodness gracious miss Schnee! What happened here?"

"I have no idea how to say it. The Phone Guy has promised to explain if you wish to talk to him."

The what guy? No, it's not the time for that Peter. "Lead the way miss Schnee."

 _Stick him in a suit, you say?_

 _Well, let's give it a try, shall we?_

A shudder runs through him as he hears the song. He turn toward its origin. Is that a grimm? No, grimm don't sing, he would know. And are those floating children? Not the time Peter, he has students to see. He sweeps the place from his gaze, he can see the rest of team RWBY surrounding a red box, team JNPR surrounding a wavering Glynda and the rest of his students standing in the building's entrance.

But then who's this young man next to the not grimm? He does look like he's the right age to be in second or third year, but Peter can't remember seeing him before. He catches a glimpse of a messy stump hidden under red cloth bands. Ah. So that's where the hand comes from. Poor boy.

The young man raises his head and start singing alongside the thing.

 _ **You brought the tears to these kids.**_

* * *

 ** _Why were their souls evicted?_**

 ** _You brought the tears to these kids._**

 ** _Why were their souls evicted?_**

 ** _Make this puppet proud._**

"Did we make you proud mister Puppet?"

 _"You did, child. Now off you go, you have more than earned your rest."_

"Yeah. You've been true little soldiers for years. And if Saint Peter is too annoying tell him I'll personally come and kick his behind."

"Thank you mister Night Guard. Sorry for trying to kill you."

Mike can't help but smile. "What, you're still going about that? Come on kids, it's forgotten. Now shoo."

"Yes! See you later mister. We'll be waiting for you."

 _"See you later children."_

There's no light falling from the sky, no fanfare sounding in the distance. One second the kids are waving, the next they've disappeared.

"You think you're going to paradise?"

 _"I doubt it."_

"Yeah, same here. Guess we'll just make Satan pray for the day we'll be sent to him to never come." He tries to take a step forward and stumbles. "Whoah! Anemia's a bitch. I want to know if the locals are alright before checking on the others. Mind giving me a hand?"

He can feel the disapproving look Marion is sending him. _"Was that a pun?"_

He shrugs as much as he can with a bleeding stump of an arm. "What do you want? Old habits die hard. So you're gonna help me?"

 _"I should strangle you... Well, I suppose you're hurt enough as it is."_

The puppet pulls an arm around him and starts floating in the direction of the woman who almost got gutted by the purple asshole, slowly enough for him to not just fall and break his nose against the ground.

"Aw! You know you love me."

 _"I swear on my music box Mike, I will strangle you once you're well again."_

"I don't doubt it." He turns toward the small group, three are helping the woman and a fourth is panicking. "Hey! White Knight! Mind coming here for a second?"

Wow, the five are looking at him like he's crazy. Well, he is walking around with a missing arm and supported by a freaky floating marionette so maybe he is.

"What? I'm not gonna do anything. I just want to ask a few questions."

"Your arm." The red haired girl, he'll call her Athena, say.

"Yeah, I know, it's gonna be a pain to wash the blood. So, anyway, everything's good with you? Nobody's dead?"

It's funny, White Knight is turning greener and greener. "N-no. Everybody's good." Ouch, the kid passed out, it's hilarious. Plus Athena freaking out over him make it even funnier.

 _"You have our excuses, we did not mean to frighten you."_ And now they're staring at Marion, like they can't believe it's really sentient. Priceless!

The woman takes a step forward. "We need to tend to these wounds. The loss of a limb can often be a traumatic experience so we need to treat the injury before the shock wear out. Please follow me."

"Wow lady, stop. It's not that bad. Not like it's the first time I lose a bit of my body. I'm fine."

"Excuse me?"

He pulls on his trouser to show his animatronic right foot as he darken his right eye. "See, it's not a problem. I'll just get a new hand too. Speaking of which, I have to see how damaged the guys are."

"Despite what you say we still need to tend to your arm. I believe your companion can take care of your friends in the meantime."

 _"Indeed, I can. May I only ask you a question?"_

"Marion, you traitor! It's for the pun isn't it?"

"I'd be happy to answer." Hey! Hey! Why is he ignored?

 _"Could you please tell me where we are?"_

"You are at Beacon Academy."

"In what country?"

"Vale."

"Well, shit. Marion, I think we're not in Kansas anymore."

 _"Please Mike, watch your language. But indeed we seem to be far away from home. He is all yours, Miss?"_

"Goodwitch"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

* * *

"So you're the ghost of a night guard in a children pizzeria. And you've started haunting this phone thing after you've been killed by the robotic mascots who were themselves haunted by the children we've seen. And they went after the night guards to get revenge on their murderer, they had already killed him, but they were too far gone to understand they had already gotten what they wanted. Except the murderer managed to come back by possessing the robot who killed him and he's the psychopath your friend was fighting who, after getting killed a second time, came back again. Mike, the other guy, got the job after you and after a lot of I quote 'titanium-ball badass actions mixed with some seriously suicidal decisions' managed to befriend the creepy puppet, who's a genuine supernatural entity and the one who brought the children back in the first place, warm up to the robots, repair the other robots, found the undead psychopath, found a way to bring back the possessed robot and a few weeks later there was a fight with the still coming back guy. That brought you here." Weiss recapitulates.

 _"Uh, yeah. More or less."_

"You understand how absurd your story sound, right?"

To be frank, in any other situation, Blake would agree with the heiress. But the explanation, as far fetched as it sound, matches the situation.

"Please, miss Schnee. You have to understand that as a true huntress you must always expect the unexpected. Why, I myself have encountered an interdimensional time traveler, I mighty nice fellow. A little eccentric, but his tales were most impressive. I sometimes see the Doctor on Sundays to talk about our respective adventures." Professor Port say.

 _"Um, does he go around in a blue box that's bigger on the inside?"_

"My, would you happen to know the man?"

 _"Uh, yes. He, um, came once to see us. Mike and the others have decided it never happened. They're, um, in denial."_

"Would your place happen be called Freddy Fazbear Pizza?"

 _"Um, yes. Did he tell you about us?"_

"Indeed my red friend! Would you believe me if I told you-"

Before she can hear the rest of the conversation Blake is taken to the side by Weiss.

"Blake, did you see how Ruby is acting?"

"Yes. Do you think it's what the Purple Man said?" As terrible as it might seem, Blake's upbringing in an organization that turned to terrorism had the little side effect of making her a little jagged to the ugly face of the world. But her leader still believes Remnant is a generally good place.

"I'm not sure. That's why I'm asking you. I don't know what I should do and I thought with your... Background, you would be better placed." Right, they know about it. Weiss must really be lost for her to even admit it.

"I think it's just too much to take in. For all she's mature Ruby is still innocent and tonight she was just put against a highly dangerous terrorist organization and a monstrously powerful child killing psychopath. I don't think she's taking it well." And Blake understands because she's gone through it during Adam's descent into madness.

"Then what do we do?!"

"I don't know." And she doesn't, she has not been saved, she just took it in and ignored the problem. She doesn't think Ruby can do that.

"Why don't ye two be askin' Mike fer help?" They both jump at the voice coming from the ground before pointing their weapons toward the speaker.

"Har, ye be a jumpy bunch. Now put yer fancy tools down before ye skewer ol' cap'n Foxy. Ah be havin' enough bein' legless." Blake is puzzled. She has no idea of how the robot crawled to them without anybody remarking. And his accent is just like one of those stereotypical pirates in the show she watched as a kid.

"What do you want?" Weiss asks.

"Right now Ah just be wantin' a bottle o' rhum but I think that not be what yer askin' about." The robot chuckle, it's strange. "Marion told those that can move must go to Scott. Ah just happen to hear ye talkin' on my way. Ye could ask Mike fer yer troubles, he's lived in a loony house fer years so he be knowin' a lot about traumatized people."

"Wait, he lived in an asylum?"

"Sure did missy white. But it's not me story to tell."

"Thank you for your advice." Blake bows her head toward the pirate.

"Ye be welcome matey. Now can a ol' sea fox ask for ye to help him? It not be easy to crawl wit' a hook."

* * *

"Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" Three laughs. "Hello! Hello! Hello!" Three laughs. "Hi! Hello! Hello!" Seven laughs. "Hello! Hi! Hello! Hi!" Three laughs. "Hi! Hello!" Three laughs. "Hello! Hi!" Seven laughs. "Hi! Hi!" Seven laughs. "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" Three laughs. "Hi!" Three laughs. "Hi! Hello! Hi! Hi!" Three laughs. "Hi! Hello! Hello! Hi!" Three laughs. "Hi! Hi! Hello! Hello! Hi! Hi!" Balloon Boy tugs at the Puppet's leg.

 _"It is really kind of you. Could you please try to find our friends' missing parts? It would be a great help."_

Rather than answering the small animatronic salute before starting running around the crater.

"Still as enthusiast as ever. You know, I've always been curious about why they gave him this speaking module." Fredbear say.

 _"It is a mystery to us all. Can you move?"_

"Sorry old friend, my joints are broken and my wiring is torn. My eyes and vocal are the only things I can use and the nightmares are too wild for now."

 _"I will need to ask for our hosts' help. Spring, I know your speaking module has been pierced but is there a way for you to communicate?"_

Marion doesn't even flinch as his phantom counterpart appears, nodding its head slowly.

 _"Can you move?"_

The phantom shake its head.

" _I will see to have you two brought with the others. Now, did you see what happened to Mike's arm?"_

The phantom nod.

"I did, the poor boy really doesn't have much luck. I think my left arm's wrist is too damaged for a graft, sorry."

 _"You have no need to apologize. I am sorry to ask this of you Spring, but would you agree to lend him yours?"_

The phantom slowly shrug and point to the arm, thankfully intact from the shoulder down, where Spring Bonnie's bulk has protected it from the impact with Fredbear.

Marion bends down and gently disconnect the arm at the elbow, removing it from the golden casing. "Thank you. I will make sure you are both repaired soon."

The phantom nod before disappearing.

"I would be grateful if you could send help."

"I will."

With that Marion start floating toward their hosts, the metal hand cradled in its arms. It stops to take a look at the toys, Cub has managed to take his leg out of Blue and they are supporting each other to walk toward Scott, Hen on their shoulders. It turns its gaze in time to see Balloon Boy running with Mangle's head held over his head, the fox's eye twitching with each step.

* * *

For Freddy the situation is really hard to take in, fusing with Mike was incredibly disorienting. He knew Marion could technically provoke such a phenomenon, but it is the first time it was not the one subjected to it. And he can't move his body, his wiring completely snapped, so he can't turn his head to look at anything else than the ground. Instead, he listens and try to get a feel of what's happening.

Mike has been transported to be healed, jokingly whining the whole time, by one of the peoples around. One of them, apparently named Jaune, seem to have fainted and a girl is trying to wake him up by calling his name. Scott is talking with some cheerful man, Foxy's being helped by two girls, the golden duo probably can't move from what he heard Fredbear and Marion say. Balloon is cheerfully singing his salutations as he runs around with Mangle's once more damaged speaking module. He recognizes Cub, Hen and Blue's gentle banter. Which means there's only Chica, Bonnie and him left to do something about.

He hear footsteps, too light to be an adult's, too heavy to be a child's. Booted feet, small jingling of a belt buckle against reinforced metal, the fluttering of cloth in the wind, too big to be a scarf. Ah, it's the girl the murderer chose to taunt them with.

"Good morning, miss."

"Eep!" He hears her jump back startled.

"You have my excuses, I did not mean to frighten you. May I ask for your help in a small predicament I am faced with?"

He hears the nervous shuffle of her boots against the dirt. "I guess?"

"I really am grateful. Could you please help turn me so that I would be able to see you?"

There's hesitant footsteps, a pause, then he feels his body being turned over with apparently great efforts if the small sounds she make are to be believed. When his head turns it's to let him see the girl is indeed the one he thought.

"You have my gratitude miss. But where are my manners? My name is Freddy, Freddy Fazbear. It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope you will excuse me if we don't shake hands."

The poor dear seem a little lost. "Oh, it's not a problem. My name is Ruby."

"It is a delight to see you and your friends seem unharmed. I don't think any of us could have forgiven ourselves if anything had happened to you because of us."

She tilts her head. "But you didn't do anything wrong."

"And yet if we had failed to hold him back the Purple Man would have gone after you all. When cities fall and nations burn the defenders are as guilty as the attackers. The attackers for bringing the war to the walls, the defenders for being too weak to protect what they have sworn to keep safe. We have already failed too many times."

"But it's the bad guys who start it!"

"I understand your thinking miss Ruby. Alas the story is only written by the victors. Be they the one who start it or not, be they truly evil or not, the enemy will still come at the gate. The guardians have no choice but to be ready."

"But it's just..."

"Cruel. For as much as I contemplate it the world is still beautiful. Yet it is most cruel to its inhabitants, I'm afraid."

"I... I don't..." She seem ready to cry, her shoulders falling.

"Do not cry young miss. For all they may fall, the guardians are still here and that alone is proof there is something worth protecting. Please believe these words for this sad bear has rarely heard ones as true as those."

She let a half sigh. "I... Guess you're right."

"Now, let this ugly frown fade away and tell me. Why did you approach this broken bot I am?"

And, as Freddy see a smile slowly growing on her face as she ask him about his functioning, he finds himself happy. This is why he was built: to keep a smile on people's face.

* * *

"I can't tell you how good it is to have somebody who's not complaining! It's always 'My leg hurt!' 'I need blood!' and you're just okay with having a robot arm."

"Eh, never understood why people were so whiny about a little wound. I mean, I've lost a foot and an eye. What's the big deal? I've got new ones."

Mike can really say he like the place's doctor. She's so much more upbeat than the others he know and she doesn't treat him like he's a freak. Well, Glynda the good witch of the South mentioned the place trained monster hunters, so it's probably a given to have a few injuries from time to time.

"Exactly! The last guy I had to give a prosthesis to just whined the whole time about his arm. Now, please, get in your underwear I have to check the rest of your body."

"What? Not even gonna knock me out? The last doc I met had me unconscious." He take is blood soaked shirt off with a little difficulty.

She frowns. "Now, what a rude thing to do to a cooperative patient. I hope he learned his lesson since then."

"Oh, he did, he ended in the asylum after I invited him to the pizzeria in thanks." He snickers. "The guys didn't like him at all." He wrestles a little with his belt before letting his trousers fall.

"Good! Now could you please stand still while I scan you for injury?"

"No problem."

He turns his head when he hears the door opening. There's Marion, holding an animatronic arm.

"Hey! Marion, I've finally found a doctor I like! This is the doctor Grey. Doc, this is my friend Marion."

 _"It's a pleasure to meet you miss. May I proceed to his arm's replacement?"_

The doc doesn't raise her head from his left foot she's holding her hands over. "Sadly, I don't have a prosthesis so it'll have to wait."

 _"I have one with me. Might I install it?"_

"Sure! You can borrow my instruments."

Marion puts the metal limb next to his stump. _"I don't need it thank you."_ It place its hands over the stump. _"I am the puppet who gives gifts, I am the one who gives life"_

With that, Mike forces the limb in his stump as Marion binds his soul to it. There's a spray of blood as the metal and the flesh adapt to each other, detachable yet indistinguishable. But the pain is almost non existent and after a second he can feel his new fingers bend to his will.

Doctor Grey is looking at them. "You are without a doubt among the most fascinating individuals I have ever had the pleasure to meet."

"Thank you doc. Hey Marion, what about the others?"

 _"They are in a sad state, but miss Goodwitch allowed us to make use of their mechanical engineering equipment."_

"Wait! They've got mechanical engineering equipment?"

"Why, yes! This is a school for huntsmen in training after all. Just try not to make a Dust container explode."

"Why would filth explode?"

"I was talking about the power crystals."

"Magic crystals?! Marion, we're going now!"

 _"I will go make sure they have a good insurance."_

* * *

 ** _Heeello, people! Anima here, and at the same time who else?_**

 ** _As you can see I'm trying my hand at some Fnaf RWBY crossover, but really RWBY is just perfect crossover material. What brought this idea? Souls, Remnant work around the souls of people. And the puppet is able to manipulate the souls of the children. So my theory: what if it was a Semblance? Just the semblance though, not the empowering force field._**

 ** _Now, you know me a little, I try to not fall in the easy routine of fanfictions. With this chapter I decided to go with the fact that in every RWBY crossover I read, if the characters come from another univers, as in: are transported to Remnant, they always end in one of the forests and almost always at the beginning. Nope, here they landed smack dab in the middle of Beacon, poor courtyard, a few hours after volume one's ending._**

 ** _For Fnaf, when Mike appear he's almost always a desperate guy who just try to survive, here he's a full fledged badass with quite a few screw looses. The animatronics are generally seen as good guy who don't know what they're doing bad or evil eldritch abominations. Let's be clear, I'll make good guys but good is not nice and you have to remember: they are born from dead children souls implanted in sentient machines for the almost sole purpose of revenge against their murderer. And said murderer, in this story, is gonna be somebody overpowered at midway between a sociopath and a psychopath._**

 ** _My take on the past of the Fazbear Crew plus Purple is gonna be explained in the story. Just know I take sister location into account._**

 ** _Before anybody tell me I made the non-native to Remnant too OP, know that I fully intend for the purple man to be the worst nightmare fuel in universe and that the mere fact of them being strong will lead the rest of the cast to do their goddamn best to catch up. The ultimate objective of this fic is to make a grey world of adaptational badasses._**

 ** _There will be songs, non-negociable. My favorite antagoniste in Fnaf is the Puppet. There will be no bashing, not even Cardin though he'll get his due. And the religious references don't make Mike a believer._**

 _ **I'll put small competitions in the Author notes, those who win can ask for a specific scene to take place: this time, the winner is the first who'll find how Balloon boy communicate.**_

 _ **Review! Follow! Favorite! Spread the love! Pray for Beacon's repair budget!**_


	2. Bloody presentation

"What can you tell me about this Mike, doctor?" Ozpin asks the head of his medical staff.

"He is simply fascinating: any being losing a body part is normally subject to various traumas linked to survival instinct. He didn't show any of the usual symptoms, nor any of the more unusual, despite the fact his arm seems to have been crushed before it was torn from his body. Messy and painful, it is much better to simply cut it with a blade infused with fire Dust, instant cauterization, why do they think we..."

"Doctor. About that Mike if you please."

"Right, excuse me. As I was saying, he seems extremely accustomed to pain, his wounds alone would have been enough to put many a huntsman down, let us not even talk about internal injuries. When I examined him he suffered from a grand total of seventy three bone fractures of varying severity over the still human parts of his skeleton, four shattered ribs, so much internal bleeding that he should have keeled over hours ago, a pierced lung and a concussion."

"And you let him go?"

"Professor, Mike Schmidt is an individual we can consider dead if I am to believe years of medical education. And he was running on a leg snapped in three different points if you only count the femur. His aura must be strong enough to heal those and I doubt I could force him to stay put if I wanted to."

"Then I will trust you with your decision. Now, I believe you told me parts of his body were not human."

"Yes, another reason he should be dead: he has almost as much metal in his body as he has living flesh. I will start with the obvious: he has a robotic arm I saw him implant on the still bleeding stump, a robotic foot starting from his right ankle down, the flesh shows signs you can find after amputating a gangrened limb, and a robotic eye whose socket show scratches indicating the original was clawed off by a human hand."

From the corner of his eye Ozpin can see Glynda turning first white then a little green. The suffering evoked is just that bad.

"But that's only what you can see, his rib cage is like a jigsaw puzzle made of bones and metal, he's got various metal pieces floating around his heart, a few of his bones are coated with iron around old fractures and twelve of his teeth are small iron bolts inserted into the jawbone through the gums. He seems to have more scar tissue than normal skin, is lacking a bit of his tongue and apparently has an eardrum replaced by an audio receptor. He's basically a dead man walking. Oh, and he's apparently eighteen if his cells didn't stop aging at some point."

"Thank you, doctor Grey."

"Anytime! When you see him, tell him to come see me. I would love to examine the consequences of his implants."

"I certainly will. Have a nice day doctor."

"You too!" She singsongs as he closes the door behind him.

He sighs, he did not envision his day to go the way it went. The moment Glynda had called him in his meeting with the council he had imagined the worst, sudden grimm attacks were uncommon but far from inexistent. What he found once he landed had been at the same time better and worse. No casualties, but Beacon had suffered the brunt of the event. A cold shiver runs down his spine each time he remembers what he has learned about it.

"Do you know where he is now?" He asks Glynda, he doesn't need to specify who he's talking about.

"He went to engineering to try repairing his companions. The puppet warned me about his fondness of engineering and a tendency to go overboard so I would recommend to stay cautious."

Ah, his companions, Ozpin muses as he walks down the corridor in the direction of the aforementioned section. Quite unusual, the only known artificial human with a soul is Miss Polendina, yet everybody has been unanimous: those robots have... Something, not exactly aura, but close enough to feel it.

Suddenly the ground shakes as an explosion thunder in the direction of his destination. He speeds up his pace to a light jog, explosions aren't exactly rare in engineering, but the situation is far from ordinary.

He enters to find Fuladh swearing a storm as he stands over a clearly broken machinery, smoke rising out of his hair.

"Hey boss, you here for the new guy?" His engineer chief asks.

"Indeed. May I ask what happened here?"

"Damn thing overloaded and went boom in my hands. No idea how it happened and it's pissing me off."

"May I borrow a minute of your time to ask you about our guest?"

"The new guy? Boss, this guy is either completely crazy or a genius, I'd say both: he had absolutely no idea of what half our equipment did when he entered three hours ago and now it's like he used them all his life. And his robots are at the same time archaic and revolutionary, like Steampunk but better. Told me he was the one who repaired them a few times and let me tell ya, those repairs are the equivalent of any engineer's wet dream, knowing the kind of shit he told me he had to use. The guy almost had an orgasm when I told him he could use our scrap reserve."

Ozpin stops a grimace at the rapid fire talk of his employee, while not as fast as Bartholomew's, the accent and colorful language make him harder to understand.

"And those things are fully sentient too, the fox spent half his time here trying to convince the poor sod to put a hook in place of his robot hand. There's also this freaky thing floating over his shoulder, gives me the creeps. But he's just joking around and all. Ya want my opinion? The guy's got a few screw looses and has been fucked up a lot, I mean, he got a red hot rod of iron smacking right in his chest and just put it back in place as if it was nothing. Now I'll go back to that damn boom machine and let you meet him, ya can't miss him: just follow the song.

"Thank you for your time."

"No problem boss."

An engineer, hmm. The more Ozpin learn about that Mike, the more question he has.

"-thing came to life, mechanical parts cold, trapped-"

As he comes closer to the various work tables he hears a voice humming, slightly raspy, the kind of voice you hear from somebody in need of hydration. It takes him a second to come back on the lyrics and hear the investment in the song. Really personal, he might find answers by listening.

"-side this unfortunate soul. I took the fall that no one else would take, corridors are locked, the doors are shut sometimes I'd see your face. I thought them strangers, bent to play pretend, fun's only a game till someone breaks the rules, and let them in. And when the lights, go out, this is the end, now we're in this blackout, and when the lights go-" The voice stops and transforms into a faint humming. Letting Ozpin with yet more questions and few answers.

He reaches the blast wall surrounding the work table the song comes from and he comes face to mask with a floating puppet. He has been warned yet nothing could prepare him to the feeling of sheer wrongness emanating from those empty black eyes.

"Mike, we have visitors."

Ozpin turns his head to see the man. He's hunched over one of the robots, his shirtless back crisscrossed with scars of all kinds.

"Gimme a second Marion. He's got shrapnel in his wiring. Now come on you little piece of scrap, come see uncle Mikey. And... There!" The man turns around, his mismatched eyes darting over him and Glynda. "If it's not the good witch of the south! Guess you're the head mojo, then."

"Indeed, Mike I believe. I am the professor Ozpin, headmaster of this school. I would like to ask you a few questions."

"Wait, hold your horses. Ozpin? As in Ozpinhead, the wizard of Oz? What the fuck kind of naming theme do you peoples have?"

"Say the night guard called Michael." The purple rabbit robot says, motionless against a wall.

"Thank you Bonnie, I'll think to call you next time I need a jackass to mock me."

"Anytime pal."

"If I may, I doubt every individual is called after the book." Another robot intervene as it puts a bear mask over its head. "I met the young lady that man threatened, the dear is called Ruby."

"So Little Red Riding Hood is called Ruby, you know you're not helping their case, right?"

"If ye could stop bickerin' an' get on with it, Ah'd be good with Mike givin' me back me legs ye bunch of parrots." The robot on the table exclaims.

"I can still work on you while talking, now stop yapping and lay over again." Turning around the table Mike catches a screwdriver and starts working again. "Anyway, ask your questions, I'll try to answer."

"Thank you. Now, could you please tell me your full name?"

"My hysteric of a mother named me Michael, official records decided to change it to Mike. Schmidt's my surname by the way."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen something, I think, I don't know my birthday."

"May I ask where you come from?"

"Earth, you probably don't know about it. Big ball of dirt with five and a half billion morons spending their lives fucking each other up."

"And could you tell me how you ended in my school?"

"Beat me. Probably pissed the universe and broke a few laws of reality, again." Mike shrugs.

"Who was the man you fought?"

Suddenly, the air is heavier, the robots' eyes fade to black at the same time as Mike's and the wrongness becomes almost unbearable.

"That guy? He's the one of the two most fucked up guys you'll ever meet, child killer if it wasn't obvious. He's our prey."

"I am sorry, but I would like to know his name."

"Now you listen here, mister headmaster, that man has lost any humanity, and with it the right to have a name, am I clear? If you wanna call him something, then Purple Guy is the best you'll get out of any of us."

"I understand. Now, could you tell me why you would be hunting him in place of the competent authorities?"

The young man bursts in a mad cackle.

"Did you see the state of your courtyard? He was toying with us! That man died and came back, again and again. When he was alive he made another pay for his crime by manipulating the entire country. The competent authorities like you say, have not a chance in hell and are too fucking corrupt. As for why we hunt him? Because it's the same thing the other way around. That fucker hates us with a passion. These guys here? They're alive cause Marion put the souls of the dead children inside them! Now the kids are free, but that man's still out there. They're the avengers. And he'll suffer."

"And you?"

"Me? I'm the night guard. I'm their watcher and their ally. They tried to kill me because they thought I was him. And you know what? They're family now, the only one I have, strange how things work out, right? You make any of us suffer, we'll strike back a hundredfold. And he has made us all suffer a lot." There's a cold smile on his face, metal bolts flashing inside his mouth. "But you have not, so you don't have to worry about us. I'd even say we've got a debt for what you did."

"No need, you saved my students from that man."

"We'd have done it anyway. No, I had access to a true workshop for the first time in a long time, got treated even if it was not necessary and even got a little true food. We always give back what we get. And an hundredfold at that." The young man smiles.

Ozpin raises an eyebrow. "True food?"

The young man shrugs. "I can do a lot of things, but my cooking ain't worth shit. I've survived off fast food pizza and instant coffee for the last year. More questions?"

"Yes, you mentioned the manipulation of souls."

 _"Indeed, professor. Souls are to me like marionettes are to a puppeteer. Though they stay free of their own will."_ The puppet says and Ozpin feel like someone has walked over his grave.

"I believe I have gotten more answers than I came for. May I ask if you need something?"

"What? Not gonna keep playing twenty questions? Aww, I was having fun! But yeah, there's something I wanna ask: this school of yours, I want in."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I want to become a student. See, your guys told me about how you train magical monster hunters. I'm a brawler, I learned to fight in the streets. And the guys don't even have that skill. If we want to stand a chance against that asshole when he come back, we need training. And I think I can squeeze one or two nasty surprises inside the guys and my body. For what you gain by doing that? You're like me, you need a lot to trust somebody and we're an unknown in your system. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer yet, ever heard about it? You'd get to keep an eye on potential menaces. And you need us to be ready to fight him. Cause if we lose, next time he won't be as cooperative. And your school's got a big ass target painted in bright red on it. He takes a kick out of a good challenge and sadism, guess what meet those standards?"

And Ozpin is hard pressed to argue against that logic. Indeed, that arrangement would benefit both sides, or at least cut his loss in case of fallout.

"Then I will put forward two conditions."

"Anything you want."

"You will have to pass the initiation like every other student."

"Naturally. And the second?"

"I want you to make sure my students will be as safe as you can."

"Headmaster, you got yourself a deal. Give me until tomorrow to repair those rust buckets-"

"Fuck you too, nutcase!" Bonnie calls.

"- and I'll do your initiation."

* * *

Rumors run fast at Beacon, and with all the interest in the school's guests, the rumor of them taking the school initiation goes from engineering to the whole school in record time.

They've holed themselves in engineering, they don't come out before the next morning and holy shit does that guy look terrifying up close with that mask above his eye. And there's a something about the robots that creeps everybody out.

The man's wearing the same bloodied rags they've seen him in yesterday and a few people turn green when they see the point where flesh turns to metal on his arm.

When he asks for the students to see the initiation nobody's quite sure of why he would want that until he turn his face right toward the camera and his eye turn black.

 **"Now watch it peoples, we'll show you the kind of monsters there can be out here. And whatever happens, don't stop it."**

Then he jumps off the cliff before his pad can launch him and the robots do the same.

* * *

They separate as soon as they reach the ground after sliding down the wall of stone. The only ones to stay in a group are the three toy-like ones. The cameras pan to show each of them making their way to where the headmaster had pointed.

Through the screens the students can see as each of the mechanical beast meets grimm upon grimm, far more than any of them has ever seen at once, as if the black monsters were attracted. Yet, none of the robot even slow down, mowing through the swarms of grimms without a look. The way they do it make more than a few throw up their breakfast, it's inhuman, monstrous, atrocious... It's just wrong, even for grimm, it's simply cruel, from being torn in half to being mauled by creatures of nightmare, every death is more disturbing than the last.

Yet, the most disturbing by far is the masked man.

* * *

They've only been alone for a few minutes when Mike and Marion meets the rude guy: all black with a white mask, the thing could have passed for a werewolf in one of those bad horror movies.

 **"Well, ain't you ugly?"** They ask with a sneer, now it's time to get those kids outta their fairy tale.

The beast roars and lunges at them, the clawed paw missing them by a wide margin as they crouch. Then they open their left hand and shove it in its chest, closing their sharp metal fingers around the squishy innards. It's not dead, but they've crushed a few important things and its arms hang limply along its torso.

 **"Now sing with us doggy. Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? The big bad wolf, big bad wolf? Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? It ain't us!"** And they push farther, breaking its spine as their fingers come out the other side.

Uh, these things disappear once dead. Cool, less cleaning for them.

They turn toward what they hope is the emplacement of a camera. **"Hey, We've got a question for you peoples. Do you know how man came to be the dominant specie where we come from?"**

A few more beasts come through the foliage, two more wolves, a really big bear with bone spikes and a pig.

Oh shit! Pumba's fast! They jump left, barely dodging with only a torn sleeve. "Well, we ain't keeping that shirt after that." Piglet tries to roll them over again, only to get a metal foot kicking its head off from the strength of its own roll. **"The reason man came on top is easy. He acted as the worst utter bastard on the fucking planet."** They catch a weak swing from the smallest wolf with their robot hand, get the screwdriver in their pocket and stab it through one of its eyes. **"But when he got on top, d'you think he stopped? Hell no! Without some shit ready to fuck them up, humans started to fuck each other up!"** The bigger wolf ain't smarter than the dead one and bulrush them, a hammer strike turns its brain to mush. Shit, they've broken another finger. **"So those things here? You ain't making me believe that's the only shit you expect to try putting you six feet under!"** But Winnie's smart, him, he turns around them, growling when they try to get closer. The first to get too close die, as simple as that. Now, how'd you rile a giant teddy bear? **"And that's if you're lucky: rape, torture, mental abuse, betrayal and anything else you can come up with, there's someone out there ready to do it to you."** They take a pebble and throw it at the beast with as much strength they can muster. It bounces off its face without making even a dent, but it's angry now so it ain't a problem, it roars as it swings down at them, the claw breaking the ground as they backpedal. They can almost hear the bear swearing as they send their open left hand through the underside of its mouth and break the weak bone of its palate, sending shattered bones right through its brain.

 **"Gagh!"** This shit dislocated their shoulder when it fell. They place their right hand on it and _twist_. Fuck, they hate that sensation. Last time it happened, Ennard had... **"Ooooh shit! Scott! Can you hear me?"**

 _"Yes, is there a problem?"_ Their friend's voice comes next to their ear.

 **"Perfect! Put us in contact with the others!"**

 _"Okay, uh, give me a second. And, you're live."_

 **"Thanks. Guys! We forgot Ennard in the basement!"**

There's a chorus of kids friendly swearing, apart from Bonnie's more colorful one.

 **"Yeah, try to find a way to get her here. We've got to stop her from scooping somebody to try and search for us. Brainstorming tonight to see what we've got. Mike and Marion out."**

 _"Do you still, um, need me?"_

 **"Nah, thank pal, see you when this shit is over."**

Fuck, that's another headache on top of all that mess. Great.

They keep going toward what they hope is the objective, they've only been walking for a few minutes when a cacophony of growls comes to their ear. Eh, another group of brain dead animals. They bend down and take hold of a branch from a fallen tree before breaking it from the trunk. "Well, it ain't a bat, but beggars can't be choosers. It'll do." Funny, though: the tree looks like it's been cut down in one strike. Bah, fuck it.

They jump through a bush, ready to kill any... Holy shit! How are those things so big? **"Well, fuck me, what the hell do you eat?"** One of the monstrous snakes looks at them with its deep red eyes. Ah, so that's what they intend to eat.

They start laughing mad. Yeah, that's how things always are, poor insane little Mike Schmidt facing odds ridiculously against him. They count four two headed giant snakes, dozens of wolves, bears and pigs almost entirely covered in white armor with a few giant scorpions thrown in the mix. And the sky's almost black from swarms of birds of all sizes. The moment they stepped into the clearing they knocked at death's door.

But it's alright, death is a good friend of theirs. It's time to go back into the fray, no rest for the wicked and the weary.

They keep laughing. **"Alright, you bastards! Come and get me! Death's calling and we're damn sure not answering alone!"**

A few pigs roll toward them faster than the other beasts, they kick through one of them and swing the heavy branch against another, sending it crashing against its brethren, they can't see if it's dead because they have to dodge a claw as big as them coming down on their head, then a stinger almost get them in the stomach.

A snake sends one of its head hurling at them and try to bite down on them, only to miss and pulverize a wolf as they're sent flying by a charging bear, another few ribs break under the shock. **"Scott! Monday evening's recording! We ain't dying in silence!"** They smile savagely as the first notes start coming from the air around.

They dodge a wolf and get a feather big as their arm stabbing clear through one of their shoulders. They start laughing again as warm blood slowly trickle down the metal of their hand. "Try harder feather brains! My dad hit harder when I was five!" And blood and ashes fly in the clearing to the sound of the song and their cackles.

* * *

He doesn't have Aura. He doesn't have Aura and he's facing enough grimm to make the best huntsmen do a double take. When the realization hit home most students go white as a sheet.

But for the headmaster, Goodwitch and the head doctor, it is horrifying, because without Aura, then it means he's been going around in the exact same state he left the infirmary yesterday. No human being should be able to just brush off something like that, it's just not possible and yet...

Doctor Grey takes out her scroll the instant she sees the nevermore's feather piercing his skin and dials a familiar number. "Grey, here. I need you to send me the best healers you've got asap. No, I'm not joking, I've got a grade eleven running around without Aura! I know the scale tops at ten you moron! That's why I need your best team! I don't care if they're on leave! Tell them it's for me and I swear, kid, if you don't do it, then I'll make sure you go from scroll duty to toilet cleaning, understood? Good, now get me those healers!"

"Doctor, it is not your fault." The headmaster gently tells her.

"And how is it not? He was on my table, it's my job to know these things! Now for the love of everything you can think of, let me make sure he'll stay alive if he survive that fight!"

* * *

They'd be dead twenty times over without Marion's power over souls keeping them standing. They've lost more blood than a human has in his body, the remaining bones of their left arm are little more than dust, countless black feathers are stabbed all over their body, they've lost another finger, blood flows in river from their mouth, a few bolts and teeth lost after a blow or another, a bit of their right ear is missing, a claw mark run along their face, cutting their nose and a cheek before going in their salt-and-pepper hair, their stomach is letting acid go from a hole caused by a pig's tusk, their peg leg is bent and the joints of their metal fingers are broken to an unrecognizable degree, all that on top of their previous injuries. But they keep laughing as they stab the last snake to death through its eye with their crooked screwdriver, the branch long lost now. It'd have been damn easier had these fucking things possessed a soul.

And as they stand in the black fog of disintegrating beast, as their blood turns the ground red, they raise their head toward the hidden sky... And _snap_.

 **"Gurgj! Ha... Ha... Ahahahahahahargh! It's me! Gahahahrgah! It's me! It's me! It's me! It's me! Haahahrgrah! It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me! Hahargah!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me! Hahagrahg!** **It's me and I'm still standing! Take that, universe! I'm! Still! Standing! Ahahargahahagh!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **It's me!** **"**

 _ **"Indeed you** **do."**_ The familiar disembodied voice comes from just behind them.

 **"Ahaha! So you two followed us too? Now it's almost a family reunion!"**

 _ **"Where you go, we follow, we are what you make us, and this place could sustain us for** **eons."**_

 **"Yeah, I gathered. Why did you come now?"**

 _ **"We are hidden from all eyes, we thought we'd make our presence known. Perhaps you'd like to seek our assistance."**_

 **"Forget that, I'll take what you give and that's all, I know how you work. And Marion's too busy keeping us together to make it a common decision. We'll see you later, don't be strangers."**

 _ **"The smoke thin indeed. See you later, night** **guard."**_

When they hear the two shadow bots fading to wherever the hell they go outside reality, they let out a sigh. Gotta keep going, they start limping toward their destination.

Urgh, fucking anemia.

* * *

When they get to the small temple, everyone else is already there.

"Wow, you look like shit!" Bonnie lets out.

"Aye, matey, ye look like ye went fer a swim with the kraken."

"Are _gzzt_ you going to be alright?" Mangle asks, her voice box acting up again.

 **"Wow, how come you barely have tears in your suits?"**

"For some reason, the dark beasts fled a little time ago." Freddy starts.

"Yeah! That's when you started laughing mad!" Chica cuts him out.

"Scary." Balloon Boy pips up in morse.

"The nightmares have been restless since then, would you know why?" Gold asks.

 **"Yeah, Fear and Regret came to have a talk."**

"What..." Cub starts.

"...Did..." Blue continues.

"...They want?" Hen finishes.

Their headache is coming back. **"Just to make us know they were here and-"** They snort. **"-Propose their help."**

"We have what we came for. Should we separate again?" Spring asks.

 **"Hell no! We go together. Now everybody sings 'My grandfather's clock'."**

And they start making their way back singing, supported by the two golden bots.

* * *

The way back takes only a quarter of an hour without creatures to get in their way. When they get inside the hall where their trial has been projected Mike watches with great satisfaction as all of the kids take a step back and eye them warily, faces ranging from pale to green. There's even one or two clamping their hands on their mouth.

 **"What? Didn't enjoy the show? You need to toughen up people, that's what you signed for choosing to be monster hunters. Kof! Urgh, it's gonna be a pain fixing that mess."** Shit, at least a few dozen meters of threads and lot of cauterization just for the tissues, a few pounds of rustproof steel to fix the broken bones, a little leather to fix the stomach and lung, he sweeps his tongue along his jaw, seven bolts to replace what he lost and a few bandages to hide his nose at all time. Without mentioning the robotic replacements for his two prostheses, his finger and the shoulder he needs to amputate. At least the blood will come back by itself.

"Mike Schmidt!" A voice roars from the other side of the room. "You have ten seconds to get your ass in my infirmary before I knock you out and drag you to my operation table myself!"

 **"Hello to you too Doctor! How was your day?"**

"That's it!"

 **Bang!**

Uh, is that a syringe in his tights? He blinks once before everything goes black and he slumps in Gold and Spring's hold.

* * *

The team leader is upset, that was his vacation day! How come Grey dares to call him and order him like a dog?

"You think it's really an eleven?" The intern asks.

He scoffs at her question. "You didn't listen in class? The emergency scale's ten is a mortal wound. You can't go higher. How'd you get in my team like that?"

Grey enters the room, followed by two robots holding a...

Holy shit! "Fuck, that's really grade eleven!" He shouts in shock.

The brat sends him a smug look.

"No time for that shit newbie, get the other ready, that's the worst case we've ever gotten. Fuck, Grey! How did he do that? Fought a pack of grimm without Aura?"

"Try an army of grimm. And I had to knock him out."

He throw his pen away, fuck that: he needs all healing semblances on deck, including his own.

* * *

"I can't take off his mask."

"Then let it, we've got more pressing matter!"

* * *

 **Smack!** "Fuck! Somebody cuff him to the bed!"

* * *

"Holy! How many nevermore were there?"

* * *

"Well, I dunno who did that foot amputation but it's not a doctor."

* * *

"Gagh! The eye's moving!"

* * *

"Somebody help me on this shoulder!"

* * *

"He's waking up, the anesthetics!"

"It's fifth time in two hours!"

* * *

"Shit! How is this guy even alive? His intestines are a mess!"

"Try getting a look at his skull, it's like a thousand pieces jigsaw puzzle."

* * *

"At-choum!"

"Bless you."

* * *

It takes them four hours and a half to finish the operation, half his team has keeled over from semblance overexertion, another guy's been knocked out before they cuffed the patient with stronger bonds, he's going to have nightmares for days and the mountain of paperwork hardly seems worth it but the guy's back in almost one piece, they've even managed to make the new scars almost unnoticeable. The only things they've been unable to heal are the missing finger and teeth, but looking at the bolts in the gums and the robot limbs... Yeah, not that much of a problem

And the bastard's already waking up, they must have put gallons of anesthetic in his veins and each time he woke up a little faster. What kind of thing did he do before to have a resistance like that? Anyway, it's not his problem any- urgh!

A hand clamps around his neck and lifts him inches above the ground before slamming him against the wall.

 **"What did you put in me?"** The voice is cold as a grave. Wait! There's only four fingers. How did that guy get out of his restraints?

The man pulls him back before slamming him into the wall again, hard enough to make a dent. **"I said: What! Did! You! Put! In! Me?!"** Each word is punctuated by a hit against the wall and his Aura starts to weaken.

"Nothing! Urgh! We just healed you."

He's turned around and his gaze falls on a pool of black. He knows the look in the real eye too well. Fuck! That guy's got post traumatic stress disorder.

The man knees him in the stomach. **"Liar!"** He roars. **"You think I don't know how it works? I fix myself alone! You drugged me, didn't you? I can't sleep so you drugged me! What is it? A bomb? Cyanure? A bug?"** The metal fist crash against his stomach, shattering his Aura as the broken bits leave bleeding marks in his skin. **"Who do you work for?! A gang? The cops?! THE ARENA?!"**

"Calm down! I work for the hospital! The school called us to help you."

 **"Liar!"** Argh! Son of a bitch, that asshole just broke his leg!

"I'm not lying! Look, we didn't put anything in you! We drugged you to stop you from killing yourself."

 **"As if I- argh!"** Suddenly the guy falls on his knees, his flesh hand flying to his head. **"Marion! Why do you- Argh! Ye-yeah, I do. Not him."** Tears of blood start dripping from his fake eye. **"Why would they? Argh! It hurt! Show me!"** The fallen man's head suddenly whips up and the healer feels his gaze piercing through his soul. **"L-Life, I see. T-thank you doc."**

* * *

"He dislocated his thumb to get to me Ozpin! Why the fuck would you keep a guy like that in your school?"

"Precisely because of that, Doctor. Tell me, if an army of grimm were to suddenly attack the city, what do you think would happen?"

"We'd all defend Vale."

"And we would probably stand victorious in the end. Now, what do you think would happen if we were attacked by the White Fang or any other group of such instead, what do you think would happen in that case."

"We'd still fight."

"And Vale would fall."

"What?!"

"The city would fall, because our attacker would not be a monster, it would be a former friend, a brother, a sister, another individual like us. And in the face of such an enemy our defenders' will would falter and let them open to the strike of those ready to make that step between killing monster and killing somebody. And if we were to win, our loss would be too great to survive what would follow."

"T-Then why do you train these kids? What good is it if you just send them on their way unprepared? Ozpin! I have seen what man can do to man, that's why I'm the best at what I do. And if you tell me you're just sending these kids to die, I swear I will punch you."

"Alas Doctor, you have to understand, they are children. For all I wish to prepare them, I cannot, nothing can but experience. But the young man you treated can and will make sure they are ready, be it intentional of him or not."

"He's a danger! He's messed up in the head like nobody I've ever seen. If they push the wrong button he'll try to fucking kill them!"

"No, he won't. You see, Doctor, while you have only encountered him at a wrong time, I had the occasion to talk with him. While he is indeed a dangerous individual, he will not be a threat to the student."

"And how can you be so sure?"

* * *

He passes the great door, limping, his metal foot still bent a little over the ankle, and sweeps the room from his gaze. Red... Red... There!

He takes great amusement in the way the kids, even if some are older than him, tense as he passes between the table filled with various dishes that look pretty damn tastier than the cardboard the big boss tried to pass as pizza back home. Seriously, the cook cried almost daily over the quality, or lack thereof, of the ingredients he got.

He hears a familiar buzzing over him and looks up to see Mangle moving along the ceiling. He tries not to think too much about where all the others have gone. She winks at him and he waves back, spooking the kids who only now remark her. Tch, wouldn't have survived two nights at the pizzeria.

Then he gets where he wants to be and he lets himself fall heavily on the bench, taking great satisfaction in the way colors drains from the four girls facing him's faces. **"Yo!"** He smiled at Riding Hood. **"You're the one called Ruby, right?"**

"Y-yes?"

 **"Cool, I heard you were the best at engineering."** He raises the mess his left arm is and waves. **"I kinda need a hand here-"** His right hand smacks against his face. Oh come on! Marion is supposed to be resting. **"I'm trying to squeeze a weapon or two in that."** She suddenly leaps up. Heh, hook, line and motherfucking sinker. He doesn't need help with that, but Foxy told him about the discussion he had caught between snow white and the other girl yesterday.

"And why should she help somebody like you?"

 **"Uh, I dunno. Maybe cause it's still her choice Snow White?"**

"My name is Weiss, Weiss Schnee." She crisply lets out.

He doesn't even try to hide his laughter. **"Nice try, but I know German, princess. Schmidt, remember?"** He steals a mug from the tray of a passing student, thoroughly ignoring his indignant shout. **"More seriously? Because there's always something to gain from talking to somebody with experience if you catch my drift."** And from the way her eyes widen ever so slightly, she understands what he means, good.

He takes a sip. **"Holy mother of God on a pogo stick!"** And launches his head back to downs the rest of the delicious, so so delicious beverage. **"True coffee, sweet fucker in the sky, there really is some good left in the world!"** He steals the mug the same kid went to take it to replace the previous one, still not giving a fuck to his protests, and downs it the same way he did the first. He looks down at the empty mug and lets out a satisfied groan as tears run down his cheeks, he revels in the way Goldilocks, Snow White and the silent girl look perturbed at the blood replacing water in his right eye. **"Where were you all my life, you drink of the angels?"** He blinks when he remarks Riding Hood drooling two inches away from the metal limb on the table **"What the fuck are you doing?"**

"I'm er... Studying your arm?"

 **"This is disturbing, and I share my mind with an Eldritch abomination."** He puts his flesh hand on the metal one and tugs, _hard_. The prosthesis comes off with a sucking sound. He hands it to her. **"There, now I'm less disturbed."**

"Eww."

 **"Wait till you find a pedophile's sex dungeon Goldilocks. That's disgusting. Seriously, even Scott was disgusted. Speaking of which, where the fuck did you put him yesterday?"**

 _"I'm in the headmaster's office."_ The voice comes from the empty space next to him.

 ** _"Nevermind then. Well, Snow White, Goldilocks, Lil' Red Riding Hood, Miss I don't have a nickname for, see you at another time. You can keep the arm for now."_** He turns back toward the door, laughing his ass off at the look on their faces. He takes a second to steal a third mug from the same fucker, still not giving the smallest fuck to his complaint.

* * *

 _ **And I'll cut there. A few things before people ask.**_

 _ **-Why was Mike talking in 'We' during the trial and in 'I' later? Because during the trial Marion was in full swing to keep him from just dying, the rest of the time it's mostly in the background. Note that the situation can be reversed.**_

 _ **-Aura? Nope, no Aura for Mike or the others, that's part of why they're so powerful, more explanations at a later date on that point. You'll have noted, Mike is strong but I'm of the idea that if you make Frodo a Jedi, then you give the Death Star to Sauron. An army of grimm is dangerous.**_

 _ **-Why were there so many grimm? The answer's part of the plot.**_

 _ **-How fucked up is Mike? Very. Remember at the beginning of the chapter when he said Purple Guy is one of the two most fucked up people you will ever meet? He's the other.**_

 _ **-No, he won't fucking be friend with the main cast in the first two day of his presence. He's an asshole, with a soft spot for kids yes, but an asshole.**_

 _ **-Pairing? Fuck, no. I'm making this story to be a darker counterpart of 'Sapphire Snake', darker means no place for 'the power of love is awesome!'. No pairing. Just, no.**_

 _ **This update little challenge: Where do you think the other bots went?**_

 _ **Until my next update! Take care! Review! Follow! Favorite!**_

 _ **Mike doesn't give a fuck and steals your coffee.**_


End file.
